Penn-Craft Historic District

Penn-Craft Historic District is a residential area with over one hundred buildings spread across a large property in Luzerne Township. Most of the houses are constructed from stone and date from the late 1930s through the early 1940s, alongside a cooperative store and other community structures.

The area was established in 1937 to provide homes for unemployed coal miners after the economy collapsed during the Great Depression. The government organization that created it believed that people could live and work on small farms and in communities rather than depending solely on factory jobs.

The layout and design of the houses show how people imagined building communities during hard times, with shared spaces for work and daily life. You can see this vision in how the stone homes and nearby buildings are arranged together.

The site is located in a rural area and is easy to explore on foot, as the roads and houses are relatively close together. The best way to experience the area is to walk around and observe the various houses and community buildings from different angles.

A knitting factory from 1939 still stands on the property and reveals that residents did not simply farm but also worked in small manufacturing facilities. This blend of agricultural and industrial labor within a planned community was unusual for its time.

Location: Pennsylvania

GPS coordinates: 39.95920,-79.91250

Latest update: December 14, 2025 11:26